2026-08-26 QB Battles, Eligibility Chaos & Our Week 0 College Football Preview (raw)

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:04 Not so fast, my friends.

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:06 Dan Rubenstein, do you hate interruptions as much as I do?

Dan Rubenstein 00:08 Could not hate them more.

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Ty Hildenbrandt 00:21 And if nothing else, you get to support the show.

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:24 It's the best way to support our little independent operation here over at The Solid Verbal, Dan.

Dan Rubenstein 00:30 What are you waiting for?

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:31 Okay, now let's play the intro.

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:51 Dan Rubenstein, I have good news for you.

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:54 Good news for all of the Verballerhood.

Dan Rubenstein 00:57 Can't wait.

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:58 Uh, we have games this weekend.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02 Well, I have a proposal for you, Ty.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:07 Okay.

Dan Rubenstein 01:08 I want you to really think on this.

Dan Rubenstein 01:11 I think we should, and you know, we talk a lot about pacing ourselves.

Dan Rubenstein 01:16 I think we need to throw everything at Week 0.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:21 Okay.

Dan Rubenstein 01:22 Pacing be damned.

Dan Rubenstein 01:23 Like, I forget, was it in like San Diego where the barge launched all of the fireworks at the same time?

Dan Rubenstein 01:30 I want locks.

Dan Rubenstein 01:32 I want guarantees.

Dan Rubenstein 01:34 I want upsets.

Dan Rubenstein 01:35 I want energy.

Dan Rubenstein 01:36 I want you up at 3 a.m.

Dan Rubenstein 01:38 Earlier than your usual 4 a.m.

Dan Rubenstein 01:40 On Saturday morning, right?

Dan Rubenstein 01:42 I want historical data on Eastern Michigan ahead of North Dakota State.

Dan Rubenstein 01:46 They're playing each other, right?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:48 It's not Eastern Michigan against North Dakota State.

Dan Rubenstein 01:50 Oh, no, it's Sacramento State.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:51 Sacramento State, yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 01:51 Excuse me.

Dan Rubenstein 01:52 It's Jacksonville State against North Dakota State.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:53 Listen, if you want energy, you're going to have to bring the energy too.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:56 This can't be a one-way thing.

Dan Rubenstein 01:57 I'm washed up, Ty.

Dan Rubenstein 01:59 You have youthful vigor that I could only hope for.

Dan Rubenstein 02:01 Everybody watching this in 1080p agrees.

Dan Rubenstein 02:03 Ty, we got to throw everything at Week 0 because we have actual flipping football.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:10 I am very excited.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:11 I am saving the primal scream for Week 1, but I gotta be honest.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:15 I went through, I looked at this slate of eight games.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:18 We're gonna talk through all of them in some way, shape, or form.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:21 It's a pretty good slate of games in Week 0.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:24 Like, it could just be that we have been months on end without games to report on and watch and enjoy as a group.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:32 But also, it could be that there is a really good slate of games.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:35 I look through.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:36 There are three on here that I think could be potential bangers.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:39 There is one that maybe I am just

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:41 very interested in.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:42 And then there are four other ones that I think are going to give us a very interesting proof of concept for what the season means as we get a little bit deeper into this thing, i.e.,

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:51 Week 1.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:53 A week from now.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:53 So I'm pretty damn excited.

Ty Hildenbrandt 02:55 This is going to be a nice little amuse bouche, as it were, of college football in Week 0.

Dan Rubenstein 02:57 Thank you.

Dan Rubenstein 02:59 Look, I'm already myself in midseason form, screwing up who's playing each other, saying Eastern Michigan, North Dakota State, when obviously it's Jacksonville State playing and Eastern Michigan.

Dan Rubenstein 03:08 It's Sac State, right?

Ty Hildenbrandt 03:09 Correct.

Dan Rubenstein 03:09 Their first FBS game as an FBS team this weekend.

Dan Rubenstein 03:16 I think I appreciate your enthusiasm, Ty.

Dan Rubenstein 03:19 But if you're going to say this week features bangers,

Dan Rubenstein 03:23 What is your studio going to look like come week five, week eight, week 11, whatever, Ty?

Dan Rubenstein 03:30 I think you need to.

Dan Rubenstein 03:31 I'm saying we should throw the fireworks at everything, but even I am like, all right, let's like.

Dan Rubenstein 03:37 Let's see what your reaction is to NC State, Virginia next year is like, if that's a banger once again.

Dan Rubenstein 03:43 But I— that's true.

Ty Hildenbrandt 03:43 Relative to what we had last week, which was nothing, we got three bangers this week, yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 03:48 Fair.

Dan Rubenstein 03:48 Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 03:51 I'm very excited.

Ty Hildenbrandt 03:52 Let's dive in.

Ty Hildenbrandt 03:53 Let's talk some news.

Ty Hildenbrandt 03:59 We will get to the games in a few short minutes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:02 But as we've been very busy doing previews and interviews and all the things we usually do to get you ready for the season, we've also been sitting on a little cache of news.

Dan Rubenstein 04:13 That's true.

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:13 Things that have gone on in and around the world of college football.

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:16 Most notably among those would be the resolution on some of these quarterback battles.

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:23 That we've known about, that we've talked about.

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:25 I've got a bullet point list here: like 10 different guys, all of whom won the job.

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:30 We got Keelon Russell at Alabama.

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:33 Not necessarily a huge surprise, but

Dan Rubenstein 04:35 Right.

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:35 They made it official.

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:37 Faizon Brandon is going to be the true freshman starter at Tennessee.

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:41 He won the job over George MacIntyre.

Dan Rubenstein 04:44 First, I think first SEC true freshman to start an SEC game since I had seen some talk about Bo Nicks.

Dan Rubenstein 04:51 I think it's technically Ken Seals Honda at Vanderbilt was the last true freshman.

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:55 Is it Honda?

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:55 I thought it was in Isuzu.

Dan Rubenstein 04:57 Ken Seals Isuzu?

Dan Rubenstein 04:59 That's a lot of Suzu, Zuzu, Zuzu.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:00 Too much. Not gonna be a good idea.

Dan Rubenstein 05:01 We need to adjust something on our compressors here.

Dan Rubenstein 05:03 It's a lot of de-essing that might be needed.

Dan Rubenstein 05:05 Yeah, okay, fair.

Dan Rubenstein 05:06 But it was Ken Seals.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:07 Aaron Philo is getting the nod at Florida over Tramell Jones Jr.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:12 That was another one of those contests that went for a while.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:14 We expected Philo, but...

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:17 Michael Van Buren getting the nod at USF.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:19 The Van Buren boys back together.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:22 This time now for Brian Hartline as he embarks on things with the USF Bulls.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:26 Billy Edwards Jr.,

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:28 who we will talk about here in a few short minutes, gets the nod at North Carolina.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:34 Dylan Lonergan is your starter at Rutgers.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:38 I've got a couple other ones here that I think are very interesting.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:41 Maybe not as interesting to the Verballerhood, but it's my show.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:45 Blaze Berlowitz going to be your starter at Vandy.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:48 He wins the job over Jared Curtis, although it does sound as if Jared Curtis will get some time in Week 1, if I read that correctly.

Dan Rubenstein 05:55 Yes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:56 We've also got a gentleman by the name of Keldric Luster at Ball State.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:01 I bring up Keldric Luster because we talked about him in the preview.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:05 Because Keldric Luster's vitals are very interesting at 5'10", 250, a bowling ball with eyes at quarterback.

Dan Rubenstein 06:12 Solid, Ty.

Dan Rubenstein 06:13 Did you see?

Dan Rubenstein 06:13 I think I want to credit correctly here.

Dan Rubenstein 06:15 I think it's our friend Mike Golic Jr.

Dan Rubenstein 06:16 had a nickname for him.

Dan Rubenstein 06:18 He either created it or passed it along.

Dan Rubenstein 06:20 I don't know if you saw it.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:21 I saw it, I don't remember it.

Dan Rubenstein 06:23 Beef Stroganoff.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:24 Oh, perfect, that's it.

Dan Rubenstein 06:25 It's great.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:26 Love it.

Dan Rubenstein 06:26 It's terrific.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:27 Thank you, Mike.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:28 And then the one that actually caught me by surprise was Braden Atkinson winning the job, I believe, up at Oregon State.

Dan Rubenstein 06:35 Yes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:36 Over Maalik Murphy, who has been in and around college football circles forever now, what feels like forever.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:41 Went up to Oregon State, of course, before last season.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:46 You know, did it work?

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:46 Did it not work?

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:47 I don't know.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:47 That's a longer conversation.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:49 But Braden Atkinson was the transfer from Mercer, who wins the job, the Mercer Bears.

Dan Rubenstein 06:52 My, my beautiful Mercer Bears, yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:55 Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 06:56 And I want to say it's Wazzu's quarterback is the UC Davis transfer.

Dan Rubenstein 07:00 So both of the returning Pac-12 teams in the new-look Pac-12, both starting FCS transfers.

Dan Rubenstein 07:06 Hope it works out for both the Cougs and the Beeves.

Dan Rubenstein 07:09 I saw that there was some scuttle about Christopher Vizzina at Clemson not necessarily locking up that job.

Dan Rubenstein 07:15 I don't know how much you saw.

Dan Rubenstein 07:16 I think it's what Tait Reynolds is who he's competing with.

Ty Hildenbrandt 07:18 Right, right.

Dan Rubenstein 07:19 at Clemson.

Dan Rubenstein 07:20 So that's at least something interesting to monitor at the moment.

Dan Rubenstein 07:24 I don't know what's still outstanding in terms of like

Dan Rubenstein 07:28 You know, will it be this guy?

Dan Rubenstein 07:30 Will it be that guy?

Dan Rubenstein 07:30 But it's great to have some clarity around those jobs.

Dan Rubenstein 07:33 The Faizon Brandon thing is fascinating, right?

Dan Rubenstein 07:36 Especially because of, you know, obviously who's on Tennessee's schedule.

Dan Rubenstein 07:39 And they have, what, Georgia Tech early on, I believe?

Dan Rubenstein 07:42 And so he'll see a real team pretty early on in his tenure there.

Dan Rubenstein 07:45 So I hope it works out because it seems that his

Dan Rubenstein 07:48 His physical gifts and his ability, you know, and his ceiling seem to be tantalizing.

Dan Rubenstein 07:53 We'll see how quickly that works out for Tennessee, but certainly the track record is there.

Dan Rubenstein 07:57 So.

Dan Rubenstein 07:57 Yeah, Philo at Florida is great.

Dan Rubenstein 07:59 Lonergan, I think, was expected after, you know, he had some success at Boston College.

Dan Rubenstein 08:04 It seemed like it kind of went away quickly when teams had seen some tape on him.

Dan Rubenstein 08:08 But yeah, some fascinating names.

Ty Hildenbrandt 08:11 If there are any other changes, we will do our part to bring you up to speed before we get into Week 1.

Ty Hildenbrandt 08:19 Some other news, Dan.

Dan Rubenstein 08:21 Please.

Ty Hildenbrandt 08:22 Have you been following this eligibility circus that is going on around college football right now?

Dan Rubenstein 08:29 Yes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 08:30 It's a lot.

Ty Hildenbrandt 08:32 So the big name, I guess, tied up in this from a more controversial standpoint is Dae'Quan Wright.

Ty Hildenbrandt 08:40 Dae'Quan Wright was waived by the Cleveland Browns.

Ty Hildenbrandt 08:45 It looks like he is committed to play for LSU.

Ty Hildenbrandt 08:49 Meanwhile, while all of that was going on, both the SEC and the Big Ten, and I would say, in addition to them, Notre Dame

Ty Hildenbrandt 08:57 all have either passed rules or stated publicly that they will not be accepting players coming back from the NFL to play in college, even if they are given eligibility.

Dan Rubenstein 09:07 Right.

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:07 This has created a whole circus.

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:10 It should come as no great surprise that Lane Kiffin is taking part in another circus in the span of a calendar year.

Dan Rubenstein 09:16 Before the first game, yes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:18 Frankly, I don't know where it's at at time of recording.

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:21 Frankly, I am afraid to put anything on tape at time of recording because every time I look, it feels like something new.

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:28 has come about with respect to this whole NFL player thing, coming back from the pros or coming back to college to play for one more season.

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:36 So we're just going to have to wait and see if, in fact, Dae'Quan Wright suits it up.

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:41 with LSU this year, whether or not he's allowed. Again, it changes every 24 hours or so.

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:47 It has certainly sparked

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:49 a much broader discussion about where college football is at.

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:52 I saw some people online commenting about: oh, we finally found rock bottom.

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:57 It seems most people are agreeing that this should not be a thing, and we need to try and nip this in the bud.

Ty Hildenbrandt 10:03 But for sure, there will be much more to follow on this one.

Ty Hildenbrandt 10:06 Again, the name is Dae'Quan Wright, waived by the Browns.

Dan Rubenstein 10:09 So yeah, there's a lot here, and there's a lot sort of going on all over the country because there are certain players who were

Dan Rubenstein 10:17 who got a temporary relief injunction-type situation?

Dan Rubenstein 10:21 A temporary relief order, then, type of injunction.

Dan Rubenstein 10:23 Again, my legalese may be completely backwards here.

Ty Hildenbrandt 10:24 The TRO, yep.

Dan Rubenstein 10:25 TRO.

Dan Rubenstein 10:27 So there are certain players from 2022 now that the rules have changed, that you have five years to play five years, that, you know, obviously the class of 2022, this would be their fifth season, if my math works out.

Dan Rubenstein 10:36 Two, three, four, five.

Dan Rubenstein 10:38 Two, three, four, five, six.

Dan Rubenstein 10:39 So we have the situation with Dae'Quan Wright, and he had signed an NFL deal, right?

Dan Rubenstein 10:44 He had signed a deal with the Cleveland Browns.

Dan Rubenstein 10:46 And then you have guys who did not sign NFL deals.

Dan Rubenstein 10:49 Who have gotten injunctions and court rulings.

Dan Rubenstein 10:52 And I think one of them is Junior Tuihalamaka, who was a Notre Dame rotation defensive end edge type player.

Dan Rubenstein 10:58 He was not a star player for Notre Dame last season.

Dan Rubenstein 11:01 And so now he has

Dan Rubenstein 11:02 hit the portal and is going to LSU.

Dan Rubenstein 11:04 You have Zxavian Harris.

Dan Rubenstein 11:06 You have, I believe, Texas has a guy, Tommy Castellanos' name has come up, whether or not he would actually start for Texas Tech or not.

Dan Rubenstein 11:12 I don't believe he signed an NFL deal.

Dan Rubenstein 11:14 So there's the parsing situation, sort of related, but like Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt are trying to return to Indiana.

Dan Rubenstein 11:24 But a judge recently sort of, I think, stayed the NCAA ban, and they are, again, my legal ease is probably backwards.

Dan Rubenstein 11:32 The NCAA doesn't want them to play.

Dan Rubenstein 11:34 A judge agreed with the NCAA's attempt at least temporarily, and they have been ruled ineligible as of a few days ago.

Dan Rubenstein 11:41 So they are currently able to practice, I believe, but not play in games for Indiana.

Dan Rubenstein 11:47 As of time of recording, no.

Ty Hildenbrandt 11:48 Everybody getting this at home?

Ty Hildenbrandt 11:50 Are you glad we brought this up?

Ty Hildenbrandt 11:52 We're not enjoying it either.

Ty Hildenbrandt 11:54 There's a lot.

Ty Hildenbrandt 11:54 There's a lot going on.

Ty Hildenbrandt 11:55 There are too many moving parts.

Dan Rubenstein 11:56 But that has major ramifications.

Dan Rubenstein 11:58 So the situation with LSU is interesting somewhat because these guys, I think, would be rotation type players for LSU.

Dan Rubenstein 12:06 Like Trey'Dez Green is better than Dae'Quan Wright.

Dan Rubenstein 12:09 In terms of like, you can play two tight ends at the same time, of course, but like LSU has a legitimately All-SEC caliber starting tight end already.

Dan Rubenstein 12:17 So depth is great.

Dan Rubenstein 12:20 Talent all over the place is great.

Dan Rubenstein 12:21 Experience in the SEC is great.

Dan Rubenstein 12:23 But in the case of Kellan Wyatt and Stephen Daley, Stephen Daley, I believe, led the Big Ten in tackles for loss last season.

Dan Rubenstein 12:29 If he were to play on Indiana's team this season, I would imagine he'd have a pretty sizable role because he has proven to be pretty excellent for the Hoosiers.

Dan Rubenstein 12:38 So, different situations, different injunctions and lawsuits in different states and different team situations everywhere.

Dan Rubenstein 12:46 Here's my bottom line.

Dan Rubenstein 12:47 Whole thing is a bummer.

Dan Rubenstein 12:49 Whole thing's a bummer, like, happening a week and a half before, couple weeks before the season starts, and guys have been through

Dan Rubenstein 12:56 spring practice and summer. And I understand, like, yeah, there’s a rule and guys want to take advantage.

Dan Rubenstein 13:00 This wasn't the rule when they entered college, so I think there's a conversation worth having there as well.

Dan Rubenstein 13:06 But at the same time, I understand why they'd like to exhaust their eligibility if possible and make some money if possible if the NFL is not willing to pay them money.

Dan Rubenstein 13:15 So I understand it from their standpoint.

Dan Rubenstein 13:17 It puts coaches in a weird spot.

Dan Rubenstein 13:18 It puts everybody in a weird spot.

Dan Rubenstein 13:20 It kind of seems lose-lose.

Dan Rubenstein 13:23 Then you have the story about Lane Kiffin and LSU allegedly encouraging these dudes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 13:26 Stop. Yeah, okay.

Dan Rubenstein 13:29 Allegedly.

Ty Hildenbrandt 13:29 Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.

Dan Rubenstein 13:31 Encouraging the use of the law to play once more.

Ty Hildenbrandt 13:36 I was going to say, stop piling on Lane Kiffin, Dan.

Dan Rubenstein 13:39 I'm just saying this was a story that was reported, that Lane Kiffin and LSU—and Lane Kiffin went on TV and said, well, if we didn't do it, somebody else would.

Ty Hildenbrandt 13:44 I know.

Dan Rubenstein 13:51 Which is, you know, the way you want to morally stand and walk through life.

Dan Rubenstein 13:55 So here we are.

Ty Hildenbrandt 13:57 Here we are.

Dan Rubenstein 13:57 I have nothing bad to say about LSU.

Dan Rubenstein 14:00 I'm very excited to watch LSU football this season.

Dan Rubenstein 14:03 The whole act of like this being a deal in the sport and the Big Ten and the SEC scrambling to put in place these last-second rules is

Dan Rubenstein 14:15 just the most college football thing ever.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:17 It really is.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:19 So, you brought up Tommy Castellanos.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:21 He was part of a separate

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:24 Lawsuit that went through, I believe, the state of Kentucky.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:28 I could be botching that as well, but it does appear as if he is eligible.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:31 Per Pete Nakos over at On3.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:33 It looks like he is headed to Texas Tech.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:35 At least that's the prediction.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:37 Probably not as QB1, but maybe as QB2 in some other position.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:41 So we'll see.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:42 what that has in store for him.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:44 On the eligibility front, one other point before I get to our final story, before we jump in and actually start talking games.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:53 Did you see this about Arion Carter, the Tennessee linebacker?

Dan Rubenstein 14:56 He's down to one game in terms of his his suspension, correct?

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:00 Correct.

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:01 So the reason why Arion Carter was suspended for two games is because his agent paid for a $427 flight.

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:10 after he declared for the NFL Draft.

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:14 After that, he ended up withdrawing his name to return to Tennessee.

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:19 He reimbursed his agent, but the NCAA suspended him anyway.

Dan Rubenstein 15:24 Right.

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:25 So, kind of caught up in this whole big circus about eligibility is this, which to me feels like a bit of a ridiculous

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:32 suspension, to say the least, especially given what else is going on around college football.

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:36 But at least they reduced it to one game, and hopefully he'll be back out there before long.

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:43 I kind of think that's a crappy ruling.

Dan Rubenstein 15:44 Yeah, he did the right thing, right?

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:44 But

Dan Rubenstein 15:47 He did everything he could to say, like, okay, let me be above board and let me try and make this right.

Dan Rubenstein 15:55 And the two-game suspension kind of seemed like BS.

Dan Rubenstein 15:57 And I think those were the letters that Josh Heupel chose specifically.

Dan Rubenstein 16:01 So now he will be back for the aforementioned Georgia Tech matchup.

Ty Hildenbrandt 16:04 Correct, correct.

Ty Hildenbrandt 16:05 So that's good.

Ty Hildenbrandt 16:06 I think that's a good eligibility story.

Dan Rubenstein 16:08 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 16:09 The final news bulletin, Dan.

Ty Hildenbrandt 16:11 Did I mention that Lane Kiffin's been caught up in a circus here?

Dan Rubenstein 16:17 A little bit, yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 16:18 Ole Miss supposedly swept its football building for bugs after Lane left.

Dan Rubenstein 16:23 It was stated that that comment and that reporting was overstated in terms of how seriously they swept for bugs.

Dan Rubenstein 16:33 But I will be clear: as far as I can tell, when they said that that comment was overstated, they didn't say, yeah, that was a joke and completely false. They didn't say that.

Dan Rubenstein 16:44 They just said, oh, it was sort of said in jest, but it sort of overstated the seriousness of it.

Dan Rubenstein 16:52 But also, they swept for bugs.

Ty Hildenbrandt 16:56 They definitely were checking underneath desks.

Dan Rubenstein 16:58 And it was something like, 'You don't know Lane Kiffin like I know Lane Kiffin.'

Dan Rubenstein 17:02 Right?

Dan Rubenstein 17:02 That was one of the quotes.

Dan Rubenstein 17:04 So

Ty Hildenbrandt 17:04 If Lane Kiffin is caught up in some sort of Mission: Impossible surveillance operation,

Ty Hildenbrandt 17:11 the sport would melt down on top of all the other Lane stuff.

Dan Rubenstein 17:15 So essentially combining the Michigan storyline from a few years ago.

Dan Rubenstein 17:20 with Lane Kiffin leaving his team before the College Football Playoff, but bugging that team, bugging his enemies in a Nixonian twist.

Dan Rubenstein 17:33 To make this all the most explosive possible meltdowny story.

Ty Hildenbrandt 17:38 I'm just envisioning like Pete Golding

Ty Hildenbrandt 17:41 in one of those, like, Faraday cages that you saw Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State, trying to keep out the outside signals from

Ty Hildenbrandt 17:51 You know, peering in and getting the goods on what's going to go down in week three, because that's going to be a huge matchup.

Dan Rubenstein 17:55 By the way, here's the other thing.

Dan Rubenstein 17:58 The whole alternate universe of this whole thing is Ole Miss finding bugs, not saying anything.

Ty Hildenbrandt 18:06 Oh, and then give him bad info.

Dan Rubenstein 18:07 And trying to work this against Lane Kiffin.

Dan Rubenstein 18:09 Like, you remember the sort of attempted sabotage that Mike Leach had when he was the Oklahoma offensive coordinator and throwing down the fake laminated play sheet of the

Ty Hildenbrandt 18:18 The fake plays.

Dan Rubenstein 18:20 the opening drives or whatever ahead of Red River and it confusing Texas briefly before they stomped Oklahoma.

Dan Rubenstein 18:29 I imagine that if Ole Miss really wanted to, Lane Kiffin seems like the perfect, the absolute perfect.

Dan Rubenstein 18:37 I don't know what, like college football

Dan Rubenstein 18:39 phishing or catfishing potential we have with Lane Kiffin here.

Dan Rubenstein 18:43 But in terms of a mark, I don't think it gets better than Lane Kiffin.

Ty Hildenbrandt 18:48 You could probably get Lane on one of these.

Ty Hildenbrandt 18:50 You could take them for a ride.

Ty Hildenbrandt 18:51 Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 18:51 Oh, I mean, Lane can be swayed.

Dan Rubenstein 18:55 So I think it would have been incredible that if this story were to come out after the fact, and we saw, like.

Dan Rubenstein 19:02 a 77-14 Ole Miss win over LSU, but, you know, a boy can dream.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:10 Should we do it, Dan?

Dan Rubenstein 19:12 Let's do it.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:19 The siren call of a week of college football games.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:22 Ooh.

Dan Rubenstein 19:24 Yeah, buddy.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:25 The hair is standing up on the back of my neck.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:27 We got eight games here that we're going to talk through.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:30 Some more than others, but all of them at least a little because we are excited.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:35 We are celebrating that we actually have football to talk about.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:38 No longer do we need to invent things to talk about.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:41 We have games that we can talk about.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:43 And it starts at high noon on ESPN this Saturday.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:48 It is the game that they are playing over in Dublin at Aviva Stadium.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:53 TCU squaring off against North Carolina.

Ty Hildenbrandt 19:57 They are a seven and one half point favorite at time of recording.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:01 You may recall these two teams played last year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:05 TCU crushed them by a forty eight to fourteen score.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:10 That was after North Carolina scored on its opening drive in the Bill Belichick era and Skip Bayless took to the Twitter-sphere

Dan Rubenstein 20:18 I've seen enough.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:19 to declare that North Carolina had a national championship-caliber offense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:24 Do you remember the halcyon days?

Dan Rubenstein 20:26 Yes, absolutely.

Dan Rubenstein 20:28 It was a brief, brief, memorable moment in time.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:31 TCU then went on a 41 point scoring binge.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:36 They outgained North Carolina by 320 yards.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:39 They scored twice on defense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:41 They basically suffocated the Tar Heels.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:44 Again, your final score was 48 to 14.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:46 So going to this year, there have been some changes to note.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:51 The TCU offense is going to look different.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:54 New offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:57 Probably more under-center stuff, a little more pistol, more tight ends, a little bit more of an intentional running game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:02 At least that's my opinion.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:04 Part of why I like TCU this year is because of that.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:07 I really like Jeremy Payne, their running back, and I like their offensive line, even though there are some questions up front.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:14 I think the ground attack could have a pretty big year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:18 Love the Payne Game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:19 I'm excited about Jeremy Payne.

Dan Rubenstein 21:19 Love the Payne Game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:20 Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 21:21 Okay.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:21 The bigger question for me, though, on the TCU side is Jaden Craig.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:28 And we talked about it in the run-up to this game, in the run-up to this season, the transfer from Harvard.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:34 I believe in him, but it clearly is a step up, Dan, going from FCS now into

Dan Rubenstein 21:39 Definitely.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:40 FBS.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:42 How do you feel about this game?

Dan Rubenstein 21:45 I think it should be a pretty fascinating game because we get to see, at least in Week 1,

Dan Rubenstein 21:51 For North Carolina and TCU, their first game.

Dan Rubenstein 21:55 It's not—it's Week 0 of the season, obviously.

Dan Rubenstein 21:57 But in their first attempt to win a football game,

Dan Rubenstein 22:00 we get to see what's new, what's changed.

Dan Rubenstein 22:03 Obviously, North Carolina has made the biggest hire of the offseason in terms of what these two teams have done in bringing in Bobby Petrino to run their offense.

Dan Rubenstein 22:13 So

Dan Rubenstein 22:14 If you are going to like North Carolina in this game, you have to kind of ignore last year, which I think is a smart thing to do for most teams in the sport, given the changes that all these rosters and coaching staffs go through.

Dan Rubenstein 22:28 And then you're going to have to say, not only do I believe in North Carolina's changes, I believe in them figuring out how to effectively

Dan Rubenstein 22:36 Travel to Ireland to play their first game and have everything in working order.

Dan Rubenstein 22:44 That they have a quarterback who was basically hurt all of last year in Billy Edwards.

Dan Rubenstein 22:48 I think he threw like 11 passes for Wisconsin.

Dan Rubenstein 22:51 He was beat up and was unable to play.

Dan Rubenstein 22:53 When he played a couple of years ago, he showed flashes at times for Maryland, played some very tough games on the road.

Dan Rubenstein 23:00 I think they had both Indiana and Oregon on the road a couple years ago.

Dan Rubenstein 23:04 And you have to believe in Bill Belichick self-scouting, figuring out everything that went wrong in 2025,

Dan Rubenstein 23:14 and being able to take all of that immediately to Ireland once again to beat

Dan Rubenstein 23:23 what TCU is, which is more of a real winning college football team, it seems, than North Carolina in this moment.

Dan Rubenstein 23:31 Not to say TCU doesn't have their own questions traveling

Dan Rubenstein 23:34 to Ireland to play its first game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 23:35 Why do you say it like—why are we saying it like this?

Dan Rubenstein 23:38 Well, I'm saying it like that because it's not just that these two teams are opening the season up

Dan Rubenstein 23:44 After a bunch of changes and new offenses and new quarterbacks for both of these teams, that like it's hard enough to just be a new team year over year.

Dan Rubenstein 23:53 But then to travel like they're traveling—by the way, not to give away the game too much, could be a pretty soggy affair once again in Aviva Stadium.

Ty Hildenbrandt 24:03 Okay, to Ireland.

Dan Rubenstein 24:03 There's rain in the forecast.

Dan Rubenstein 24:07 Well, can you believe that it's going to rain in Ireland?

Ty Hildenbrandt 24:11 Shocker, I won't play the news sound.

Dan Rubenstein 24:12 Yeah, I know.

Dan Rubenstein 24:13 Shocker.

Dan Rubenstein 24:14 So I'm just saying.

Dan Rubenstein 24:16 This feels like a classic Hildenbrandt Ashanti game.

Dan Rubenstein 24:19 Not that you can clearly trust TCU more, but...

Dan Rubenstein 24:24 You don't have a ton to go on beyond last year's team looking more effective as the year went on, but it's a different team this year for North Carolina.

Dan Rubenstein 24:34 So.

Dan Rubenstein 24:35 I just, if I'm going to simulate this game a thousand times and the spread is what, seven and a half points?

Ty Hildenbrandt 24:40 Seven and a half points, yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 24:43 I would have to just be a semi-blind believer in Bill Belichick's ability to make over and inspire a North Carolina roster with

Dan Rubenstein 24:55 basically no evidence that he can beat a real team, let alone TCU in Ireland.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:01 In Ireland.

Dan Rubenstein 25:04 So I'm happy to give the points here, just because there's more to trust about TCU and the frogs in this spot.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:12 You kind of took the words right out of my mouth, and I'll get to it in a second.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:17 I have questions about TCU.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:19 I like TCU, though, and I do have faith in Jaden Craig.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:23 I do think it's a step up.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:25 I also am a little bit cautious about just hand-waving North Carolina.

Dan Rubenstein 25:31 I'm not hand-waving.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:32 Because I still think the Belichick defense, as we saw a year ago,

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:37 I think the Belichick defense has some juice.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:41 I think they're going to be better on defense this year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:44 I think for a good chunk of the season, there's a decent chance that the defense is going to carry the team.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:51 And so if you’re telling me we’ve got a situation here with a first-time starting FBS quarterback in Jaden Craig going into a defense that I think is going to be half-decent,

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:03 that's an interesting matchup to watch.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:05 I also think North Carolina is going to be better on offense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:08 Speaking of trust,

Dan Rubenstein 26:09 Same

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:12 I actually trust in Bobby Petrino, words that have never been spoken.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:17 I trust that Bobby Petrino is going to be able to reassemble this offense in a way that makes it a little bit better.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:23 Like, Billy Edwards Jr.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:25 is an upgraded quarterback.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:26 I really like Demon June, the running back.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:29 I think Petrino is going to find a way to make these guys better.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:32 He's going to put in a lot of quick game and RPOs and stuff that puts Billy Edwards Jr.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:35 on the move because he’s good at that.

Dan Rubenstein 26:37 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:37 Certainly not the strongest-armed quarterback.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:40 So they're going to have to be really deliberate about how they stretch the field vertically.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:44 It's going to be more about schemes than, I think, him taking shots, but...

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:49 You know, I just feel like there's going to be more juice on the offense as well.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:53 I am worried there could be a little bit of pickleball to that offense if Billy Edwards Jr.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:58 is not out there.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:59 Again, he's not a pop-gun arm, but he's not the strongest-armed quarterback in the world.

Ty Hildenbrandt 27:04 We'll see what type of shape this takes on when these teams play on Saturday.

Ty Hildenbrandt 27:09 I don't know, like Vegas is expecting a one-score affair.

Ty Hildenbrandt 27:13 I'd also add that these games in Ireland and maybe the rain has something to do with it this time around, but they tend to go under.

Ty Hildenbrandt 27:21 Not always the highest scoring affairs.

Ty Hildenbrandt 27:22 We've seen some really good games in Ireland.

Ty Hildenbrandt 27:24 I've got TCU winning, but I don't have them covering.

Ty Hildenbrandt 27:27 I think it’s something like 24-17.

Dan Rubenstein 27:27 Okay.

Dan Rubenstein 27:30 Okay.

Dan Rubenstein 27:31 Yeah, I’m going to say 28-17, something in there.

Dan Rubenstein 27:36 I think they're 10, 11 points better.

Dan Rubenstein 27:39 I'm not sold on the Jaden Craig thing for TCU.

Dan Rubenstein 27:43 I just think there is an interesting enough track record and more around him at TCU to set him up for success.

Ty Hildenbrandt 27:50 Definitely.

Dan Rubenstein 27:50 And

Ty Hildenbrandt 27:51 Definitely.

Ty Hildenbrandt 27:51 I agree with that.

Ty Hildenbrandt 27:52 Definitely.

Dan Rubenstein 27:52 I do keep saying the like in Ireland thing, but there is something about not only is it like their first game of the season, but like

Dan Rubenstein 28:01 To me, it feels like, and it seems like a lot goes into from like an administrative, like, when are we getting there?

Dan Rubenstein 28:07 When are we doing the walkthrough?

Dan Rubenstein 28:08 Like, there's

Dan Rubenstein 28:10 There has to be kind of a good deep understanding of where you are as a program to be able to weather that kind of unique situation.

Dan Rubenstein 28:20 And Sonny Dykes has just been through more as a college coach and has built up a roster and is more familiar with his guys and at least some of his position coaches and coordinator situations.

Dan Rubenstein 28:31 They're, like—

Dan Rubenstein 28:32 I just feel like they're going to be better prepared to succeed than North Carolina.

Dan Rubenstein 28:37 And so, could see North Carolina starting quickly again.

Ty Hildenbrandt 28:38 Okay.

Ty Hildenbrandt 28:39 Makes sense.

Dan Rubenstein 28:41 Could see all sorts of encouraging moments for North Carolina.

Dan Rubenstein 28:45 I'd be terrified if I'm a North Carolina fan that everybody's going to be watching this game.

Dan Rubenstein 28:50 Don't screw it up.

Dan Rubenstein 28:51 Don't screw it up.

Dan Rubenstein 28:52 Don't screw it up.

Dan Rubenstein 28:54 So it's nerve-wracking, but yeah, I think I'm just trusting more about the TCU ceiling right now.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:01 Let’s move to 3 p.m.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:02 Eastern Time.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:04 This one on NBC.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:05 It is San Jose State on the road at USC.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:09 The Trojans are 38.5-point favorites, big number.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:13 USC went 9-4 a year ago.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:15 They were 7-0 at home.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:17 San Jose State went 3-9.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:19 They were 0-6 on the road.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:21 This game is on the road.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:23 No one is expecting San Jose State to beat USC.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:27 But

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:28 I do think that we've got some points of intrigue here on the USC side in particular.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:34 We voted them ninth in our AP poll.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:37 We both clearly agreed that

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:39 This is going to be a pretty good team.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:41 It's going to be a team that's to some extent at the mercy of its schedule.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:46 But there are definitely points of real intrigue here that I think

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:51 requires us to watch on Saturday afternoon.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:54 Like, I don't really give a rip about the final score.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:57 I care about Gary Patterson playing defense—or him getting USC to play better defense.

Dan Rubenstein 30:03 No, hold on.

Dan Rubenstein 30:04 Let's pull on that thread.

Dan Rubenstein 30:06 Is Gary Patterson, like, an obvious three-technique?

Dan Rubenstein 30:09 Is he a run-stuffing linebacker?

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:09 I would have loved to see Gary Patterson out there playing defense, but my hunch is that his eligibility has been exhausted.

Dan Rubenstein 30:12 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:17 I want to see what his defense looks like and I want to see nobody get hurt.

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:21 Beyond that, Jayden Maiava with his wideouts.

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:24 Does anybody step up?

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:26 And beyond that, they lost their center for the year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:29 Is there any kind of confusion or communication issues up front along the line?

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:33 Anything that we can take with us as we move now?

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:37 into Week 1 and deeper into the season.

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:39 But like this should be a win going away for USC.

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:42 I just want to see how smooth they look in the process.

Dan Rubenstein 30:47 I think that's all reasonable.

Dan Rubenstein 30:48 They have four games before their gauntlets.

Dan Rubenstein 30:53 And so

Dan Rubenstein 30:54 They are also down, I believe, Jahkeem Stewart for a little while, but he seems like he’ll be back.

Dan Rubenstein 30:59 He was a rotation but flashing freshman, defensive lineman last year, and I think he's been counted on to be a big-time playmaker this year up front.

Dan Rubenstein 31:07 So they're without him.

Dan Rubenstein 31:08 I think you nailed it.

Dan Rubenstein 31:09 I think a bunch of it's going to be.

Dan Rubenstein 31:11 Look, they're going to win this game 65 to 10, right?

Ty Hildenbrandt 31:13 Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 31:13 Like, there's no universe in which I think San Jose State covers in this game.

Dan Rubenstein 31:18 Jayden Maiava should be

Dan Rubenstein 31:20 basically automatic against this defense at home.

Dan Rubenstein 31:24 I think a lot of USC fans are looking forward to seeing which new names are getting snaps and are flashing in those snaps.

Dan Rubenstein 31:32 You know, there's freshmen on both sides of the ball, or first-year starting types, or contributor types who didn't really play last year, especially when you look at receiver.

Dan Rubenstein 31:41 It's, yeah, it's who's getting the reps, who's getting in, and how organized they look in this new defense.

Dan Rubenstein 31:48 And so

Dan Rubenstein 31:50 Yeah, I imagine this is going to be a 50-point USC win.

Dan Rubenstein 31:55 And on top of what you mentioned with San Jose State and losing on the road and

Dan Rubenstein 31:59 Going three and nine.

Dan Rubenstein 32:00 They did lose their starting quarterback, who is headed to Duke.

Dan Rubenstein 32:03 You didn't mention that in the new announced starters, but yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 32:04 Yeah, well, I mean, San Jose State has to replace their quarterback, Walker Eget, who is, as you said, going to be the starter at Duke, in addition to their top rusher and their top four receivers.

Ty Hildenbrandt 32:17 So, yeah, there's going to be a nice little opportunity here for USC to ramp things up on defense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 32:23 And it's going to be one of those years for San Jose State trying to pick up the pieces.

Ty Hildenbrandt 32:27 Reassemble with a new cast of characters.

Ty Hildenbrandt 32:29 I’ve got this game at 55-14 USC.

Dan Rubenstein 32:33 Yeah, I mean, I think I have it at like 63 to 13.

Dan Rubenstein 32:37 If I said a 50-point win, something like that.

Dan Rubenstein 32:39 I'm curious to see, by the way, just speaking of like seeing the guys and the number of reps or if they're even getting reps at all.

Dan Rubenstein 32:44 Jontez Williams, who has been limited all offseason long, coming off of, I believe, a torn ACL that he suffered early on in the season last year for Iowa State, and he was one of the big portal grabs

Dan Rubenstein 32:55 for Lincoln Riley and the Trojans.

Dan Rubenstein 32:58 What does he look like?

Dan Rubenstein 32:59 Is he even playing in this game?

Dan Rubenstein 33:01 Are they sort of making him sit out a little bit more to get as healthy as he can?

Dan Rubenstein 33:06 Because look,

Dan Rubenstein 33:07 The secondary took a hit after last season.

Dan Rubenstein 33:10 They brought in new guys.

Dan Rubenstein 33:11 They're going to be counting on some new guys, including Jontez Williams, because the schedule does get real in a few weeks in terms of the passing attacks they'll be facing.

Dan Rubenstein 33:19 So.

Dan Rubenstein 33:19 We'll see what the pass rush looks like.

Dan Rubenstein 33:20 I suspect it’s going to be incredible against San Jose State because, after all, Ty, the USC championship window—

Dan Rubenstein 33:29 We all agree.

Dan Rubenstein 33:31 And my guy Scott does as well.

Dan Rubenstein 33:33 So yeah, 63 to 13.

Dan Rubenstein 33:36 I think Jayden Maiava is going to look terrific.

Ty Hildenbrandt 33:39 The window is open.

Dan Rubenstein 33:41 They get a healthier running back.

Dan Rubenstein 33:43 Waymond Jordan got hurt last year, and so he’ll be back with King Miller.

Dan Rubenstein 33:46 It's great.

Ty Hildenbrandt 33:47 Window is open, Dan.

Dan Rubenstein 33:48 Window's open.

Ty Hildenbrandt 33:50 3:30, ESPN, a game that was originally supposed to be played in Rio de Janeiro.

Ty Hildenbrandt 33:58 NC State is playing this one at Virginia.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:02 Virginia is favored at home now by five and a half points.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:07 I never got the full story on why they pulled the plug.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:10 And moved this one back stateside, but I was getting some real Fyre Fest vibes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:15 At some point, I'm assuming we'll get the full story, but they just very quietly pulled the plug and moved back to Charlottesville.

Dan Rubenstein 34:21 I think it was probably a ticket situation that perhaps the tickets weren't moving as quickly as possible.

Dan Rubenstein 34:26 And they may have mentioned something about the turf on the field because I think it was the Rio turf that the NFL had some issues with.

Dan Rubenstein 34:33 Yeah, it didn't work out.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:35 Did not work out.

Dan Rubenstein 34:35 There were concerns.

Dan Rubenstein 34:36 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:38 These teams did play last year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:39 It was a fun game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:41 NC State won it 35-31.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:43 They were trailing by 10 at half.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:45 This is a game that featured over 900 total yards.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:49 UVA ran for 257 on the ground, but then NC State scored touchdowns

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:54 on their first three drives, it says here, in the second half, ended up sealing the game with an interception in the end zone.

Ty Hildenbrandt 35:00 I have no idea how to feel about this game.

Dan Rubenstein 35:03 Okay, next game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 35:06 Can you provide some clarity, please?

Ty Hildenbrandt 35:08 This is your cue to maybe help me.

Dan Rubenstein 35:10 There are things about both of these teams that are encouraging and facts to enjoy and like about NC State going into the season and Virginia heading into the season, but there are

Dan Rubenstein 35:21 There's obviously good reason when you look at NC State's defense last year. Virginia didn't lose a ton, but

Dan Rubenstein 35:31 they’re moving from a quarterback who seemed a little bit more dependable than where they stand right now with Beau Pribula.

Dan Rubenstein 35:37 The game was in Raleigh last year, yes?

Dan Rubenstein 35:41 NC State, not as good on the road, or at least they weren't last year, for whatever that's worth.

Dan Rubenstein 35:47 I think I like Virginia here.

Dan Rubenstein 35:50 I think there is something about Virginia.

Dan Rubenstein 35:51 NC State has usually—I think they started last year in pretty encouraging fashion after two years ago.

Dan Rubenstein 35:57 Didn't they get just like absolutely bludgeoned early on by Tennessee?

Dan Rubenstein 36:00 I think I like the continuity of Virginia, last year's proof of concept, that it's at home.

Dan Rubenstein 36:07 I tend to favor home teams in Week 0, Week 1, just because I think comfort goes a long way when there is so much uncertainty.

Dan Rubenstein 36:15 So I think I'm going to go Virginia here.

Dan Rubenstein 36:17 I think right now NC State appears to need to win on the arm of C.J. Bailey.

Dan Rubenstein 36:26 And they were a very explosive team last year at times.

Dan Rubenstein 36:29 I just think I trust if your starting point for Virginia is

Dan Rubenstein 36:34 A good proof of concept on defense and a lot returning on a good offensive line.

Dan Rubenstein 36:39 I think I like their starting point a little bit better.

Dan Rubenstein 36:41 I think NC State's going to have a decent season.

Dan Rubenstein 36:43 But in this spot, I think I like Virginia by a touchdown.

Ty Hildenbrandt 36:46 I think both teams are going to try to run, and I see this one devolving into some sort of ball control affair that probably swings on a few big plays that flip the field.

Ty Hildenbrandt 36:58 I think those big plays will come when NC State's on offense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:02 I don't know if it will be the NC State offense creating the plays, though.

Dan Rubenstein 37:05 Right.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:06 And to that end, I am watching to see

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:10 if C.J. Bailey,

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:11 who is clearly the more proven quarterback in this matchup, can hit a few of those big plays through the air against a really good Virginia defense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:21 The reason I say I don't know if it's the offense creating the big plays or not,

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:25 It could be a Virginia defense that is forcing mistakes, forcing some turnovers.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:29 This is an NC State team that has not necessarily been the most dependable, even though they've been a pretty good

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:35 team over the years.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:37 So I'm just curious to see what that looks like.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:41 You may recall we talked through NC State in our preview.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:45 We mentioned how they certainly put a premium on building their offensive line, maybe not as much in the wide receiver room.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:53 We had a bunch of people comment, and they were like, listen, you don't understand.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:56 They went out, they got guys that

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:58 that C.J.'s played with before, that he knew back in Pop Warner.

Dan Rubenstein 38:02 Great.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:03 Great.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:03 Like, I like this team too.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:06 I've already said they're kind of my pet ACC team.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:09 But can those guys get open?

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:11 Against a good defense like Virginia.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:14 That's what I'm waiting to see.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:16 That's what I'm waiting to see.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:17 And I think if they're going to win, that's what's going to need to happen.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:19 So

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:21 Fascinating matchup to me.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:23 Like, I like the same things about Virginia that you do.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:26 I think in the preview we called them Iowa East, right?

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:29 Offensive line and defense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:31 Don't know how Beau Pribula fits in.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:34 Don't know if they've got enough skill talent around him.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:37 Bo is certainly not the same kind of quarterback as Chandler Morris, but I like him.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:42 It's just going to be a little bit different.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:43 I think this is a close game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:45 I think this is a fun game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:46 I've got 27-20 NC State because, of course, I've got NC State.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:50 Why not?

Dan Rubenstein 38:51 Yeah, we disagree.

Dan Rubenstein 38:55 Uh, yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 38:57 There's something about, look, last year was last year, this year is this year, but I do look to certain elements of where Virginia was able to succeed, especially on defense.

Dan Rubenstein 39:05 They were incredible at preventing those big pass plays on obvious passing downs.

Dan Rubenstein 39:09 They were the number one team in America.

Dan Rubenstein 39:11 On passing down play explosiveness allowed, if that's at all a big deal to you.

Dan Rubenstein 39:16 Their pass rush was terrific last year.

Dan Rubenstein 39:18 And so, in terms of recent track record of development and execution,

Dan Rubenstein 39:23 Virginia's defense, really good place.

Dan Rubenstein 39:25 Now, obviously, NC State, with even those stats, NC State beat them last year early.

Dan Rubenstein 39:30 So there is something to be said about NC State's quality, which I think is absolutely there.

Dan Rubenstein 39:34 I have Virginia winning this one 31-23.

Ty Hildenbrandt 39:37 5:30 on CBS Sports Network.

Ty Hildenbrandt 39:40 We've got Jacksonville State squaring off against North Dakota State.

Ty Hildenbrandt 39:45 In the Fargodome, Dan.

Dan Rubenstein 39:46 In Fargo.

Ty Hildenbrandt 39:47 Hell yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 39:48 Hell yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 39:49 North Dakota State is now up to a seven-point favorite at home.

Ty Hildenbrandt 39:54 This will be their first game in the FBS.

Ty Hildenbrandt 39:59 They went 12 and 1 last year in their final season of FCS play.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:03 They were dominant most of the year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:05 They lost by one in the playoffs.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:06 Now they're making the move up into FBS and presumably are one of the teams worth monitoring in the Mountain West.

Dan Rubenstein 40:15 Is there a team in the Mountain West who are just like, I'm not monitoring them?

Dan Rubenstein 40:19 You won't catch me naked monitoring them.

Dan Rubenstein 40:22 No, I monitor everybody.

Dan Rubenstein 40:24 Continue.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:24 We've been to the Fargodome.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:27 That place is going to be friggin' loud.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:31 I like North Dakota State here.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:33 I like them at home.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:35 I think their home field advantage is going to be felt enormously throughout the course of this year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:39 I don't know if teams fully

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:41 Have baked that into the cake here.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:43 But North Dakota State, I think, is strong enough on both lines.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:48 I do have questions about what the rest of the team looks like, notably at quarterback and at the skill positions.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:54 But I think the strength of their lines will be enough to take them a pretty good ways through this season.

Ty Hildenbrandt 41:01 Jacksonville State

Ty Hildenbrandt 41:02 has a dual-threat running quarterback in Caden Creel, but they did lose Cam Cook, who we talked about going over to West Virginia with Rich Rod.

Ty Hildenbrandt 41:11 So a lot will be on Caden Creel to see if he can move the ball against what should be a good enough Bison defense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 41:20 A Bison defense that, by the way, was averaging something like 74 yards per game on the ground.

Ty Hildenbrandt 41:26 So it was a good rushing defense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 41:28 We'll see what they can do now with the new cast of characters jumping up a step.

Ty Hildenbrandt 41:32 But I feel pretty confident that they're going to win and cover here, especially in the Fargodome.

Ty Hildenbrandt 41:37 I've got it at, like, 31-20 Bison.

Dan Rubenstein 41:41 That's fair.

Dan Rubenstein 41:42 I think I'm with you.

Dan Rubenstein 41:43 I think North Dakota State, with again, it's a comfort thing with as much new as there is for North Dakota State, that they're at home.

Dan Rubenstein 41:51 Against an opponent who was obviously good last season, but they weren't nails at any one element of things, especially in conference play.

Dan Rubenstein 42:00 Whereas I think there is something with North Dakota State and

Dan Rubenstein 42:04 the continuity and the culture and the program strength. I’m just going with the Bison at home to cover in this one.

Dan Rubenstein 42:12 I think Jacksonville State will have a good year, and they have become an impressive program.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:15 I like Jack State a lot.

Dan Rubenstein 42:16 It's under the other Charles Kelly, previously Rich Rod.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:17 I really do.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:19 Yep.

Dan Rubenstein 42:20 I think North Dakota State is stronger here.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:23 The other new FBS team plays at 6:30 on ESPN+.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:27 It's Sacramento State on the road against Eastern Michigan. Eastern Michigan now a 10-point

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:34 home favorite.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:35 Eastern Michigan brings back a lot.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:37 It's really the tale of two cities here with respect to returning production for whatever you make of that.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:43 Eastern Michigan brings back 62% of its production from a year ago.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:47 If you look on the Sac State side, a lot new, but notably only 21% of their offensive production is returning.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:55 They're going to be led by Carson Conklin, who is their quarterback.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:59 But I feel like there is just so much different, including the coaching staff.

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:05 I like Eastern Michigan here, like 35-17.

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:10 I'm watching to see how their defense holds up because they couldn't stop anybody.

Dan Rubenstein 43:13 I was going to say they bring back so much and their defense was so bad last year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:18 It was so bad on the ground last year.

Dan Rubenstein 43:20 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:20 So can Sacramento State run the ball against that type of defense?

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:25 You know, will the defense be better?

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:27 That I think is sort of the game within the game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:30 But bigger picture, I am not liking Sac State's chances here on the road against a team that is going to have its fair share of veterans.

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:38 So, like I said, 35-17 for me.

Dan Rubenstein 43:41 I'm going to take the points.

Dan Rubenstein 43:42 I'm going to take the points in this one.

Dan Rubenstein 43:45 I'm not confident in these defenses.

Dan Rubenstein 43:47 I think it's going to be weird and ugly.

Dan Rubenstein 43:48 I'm happy to take, you know, now that it's up to double digits, I think there's value there.

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:52 7 p.m. on The CW, New Mexico State at Florida State.

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:56 Florida State favored by 30 and a half, 31 something in that neighborhood.

Dan Rubenstein 44:00 They'll throttle 'em.

Dan Rubenstein 44:01 Yep.

Ty Hildenbrandt 44:02 You may recall Florida State opened up last season by beating number eight Alabama by a 31 to 17 score.

Ty Hildenbrandt 44:11 Yada, yada, yada, they finished five and seven.

Dan Rubenstein 44:14 That did happen.

Dan Rubenstein 44:15 Can confirm.

Dan Rubenstein 44:15 Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 44:17 They're going to rip New Mexico State apart.

Dan Rubenstein 44:19 This is not Jerry Kill's New Mexico State.

Dan Rubenstein 44:21 It's not Diego Pavia, New Mexico State.

Dan Rubenstein 44:23 They have a lot of issues.

Dan Rubenstein 44:25 Florida State.

Dan Rubenstein 44:27 Has neutral vibes right now.

Dan Rubenstein 44:29 Obviously, the vibes overall aren't great for where the program stands.

Dan Rubenstein 44:33 But in terms of this season and the rhythm of the season, they can go in with

Dan Rubenstein 44:39 A fresh start and score a ton of points.

Dan Rubenstein 44:43 So we'll say 55 to 13.

Dan Rubenstein 44:45 I think Florida State will be in a good spot.

Dan Rubenstein 44:47 There's enough to like about both sides of the ball for Florida State, not love.

Dan Rubenstein 44:51 But in this spot, I think they're going to be all right.

Ty Hildenbrandt 44:54 Yeah, I've got 45-10.

Ty Hildenbrandt 44:56 Florida State could move the ball a year ago, but it was turnovers, it was stuff in the red zone, the mistakes in the close games, stuff like that kept popping back up.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:06 Like, I know I said in the preview that I was 80% of the way out on Florida State.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:12 I am still hedging a little bit because there are aspects of this team that I really like.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:16 My guy this year is Ousmane Kromah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:19 At running back, I love that guy, who I think could really be a force.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:23 Duce Robinson, I think we voted Duce Robinson on our All-American team.

Dan Rubenstein 45:27 Yeah, he is of that caliber, yep.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:28 Out wide for Florida State, just a big dude who's going to be a force this year and probably moving forward in the NFL.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:34 I think Florida State will be better.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:37 The bigger question for them is:

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:39 7-5.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:40 Is seven and five good enough to keep Mike Norvell at a traditional power like Florida State?

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:45 Probably not.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:46 I want to see in this one in particular, Ashton Daniels.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:50 Is he playing a clean game?

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:52 How does the line in front of him look?

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:54 Because the line's been rebuilt.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:55 There's just a fair amount here, I think, that we don't really know

Ty Hildenbrandt 46:00 who our guys are yet, maybe outside of Duce Robinson.

Ty Hildenbrandt 46:04 And it's going to take a few games to maybe gain some confidence in new names, frankly.

Dan Rubenstein 46:10 By the way, speaking of our guys, this game is on The CW and it's Thom Brennaman, who I guess you're boys with, right?

Ty Hildenbrandt 46:17 I am boys with him, yes, of course.

Dan Rubenstein 46:18 You and Thom.

Dan Rubenstein 46:20 The thing you didn't mention that shame on you.

Dan Rubenstein 46:24 So the Jacksonville State, North Dakota State game is on CBS Sports Network.

Dan Rubenstein 46:28 Who's in the booth for this one?

Dan Rubenstein 46:32 Well, Rich Waltz is calling the game.

Dan Rubenstein 46:33 Adam Breneman is doing color, but it’s a three-man booth.

Dan Rubenstein 46:37 It's the premiere of the Brian Kelly experience in Fargo.

Dan Rubenstein 46:42 Shame on you, Ty.

Dan Rubenstein 46:43 Shame on you.

Ty Hildenbrandt 46:44 On CBS Sports Network?

Dan Rubenstein 46:46 On CBS Sports Network.

Ty Hildenbrandt 46:47 Okay, so that was the game before the 6:30.

Dan Rubenstein 46:47 Yep.

Ty Hildenbrandt 46:49 No, no, sorry.

Ty Hildenbrandt 46:50 Yeah, two games before.

Dan Rubenstein 46:50 5:30 Eastern.

Ty Hildenbrandt 46:51 5:30 on CBS Sports Network.

Dan Rubenstein 46:53 Yes.

Dan Rubenstein 46:55 That's all.

Dan Rubenstein 46:55 Wes Durham, Max Browne on the call for NC State-Virginia.

Dan Rubenstein 46:58 Max Browne now in the, I think, the top seat in the ACC Network booth.

Ty Hildenbrandt 47:02 I think I need a demerit for forgetting that Brian Kelly bit.

Dan Rubenstein 47:06 Do you think Brian Kelly will go curling like we went curling when we went to Fargo?

Dan Rubenstein 47:12 We hope so and want evidence thereof, if that's the case.

Ty Hildenbrandt 47:15 He'll have sort of that upper plains accent by the time he gets done.

Dan Rubenstein 47:18 Of course, they will.

Dan Rubenstein 47:20 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 47:22 7 p.m.

Ty Hildenbrandt 47:24 We've got, on ACC Network, Hawaii at Stanford.

Ty Hildenbrandt 47:29 When I made this doc, the point spread was five and a half in favor of Stanford at home.

Ty Hildenbrandt 47:35 And I jotted down that I didn't understand the point spread.

Ty Hildenbrandt 47:38 And then I looked this morning and it's down to Stanford minus four, which makes me feel better knowing that I wasn't crazy.

Dan Rubenstein 47:44 I'm seeing down in some places to three and a half.

Ty Hildenbrandt 47:46 Three and a half, yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 47:47 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 47:48 I still think four is too much if it's even there at this juncture.

Ty Hildenbrandt 47:53 They played a year ago for whatever that's worth to you because there's so much new on the Stanford side in particular.

Ty Hildenbrandt 47:59 But Hawaii won that game 23-20 on a 38-yard field goal, but it was a fun game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:05 Like, had a bunch of lead changes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:07 Stanford had a 20-play drive in the fourth quarter.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:10 And then Micah Alejado, the starting quarterback for Hawaii, led a game-tying and a game-winning drive down the stretch.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:17 23 to 20 again was your final.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:19 Hawaii's got the better offense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:21 Hawaii should be able to throw.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:24 I know this is a new regime, and everyone likes Tavita Pritchard.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:28 But this was the worst passing defense in the nation a year ago.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:32 Even with a new regime and better vibes and different coaches and different players, it's a stretch to me that you're going to be able to fix that overnight.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:39 So thank you.

Dan Rubenstein 48:40 That's a great sentence.

Dan Rubenstein 48:41 Look, the pass defense was bad last year, but with all new coaches and all new players, I still don't like them.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:47 I still don't.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:48 No, because—but here's why I say that.

Dan Rubenstein 48:49 No, I get it.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:52 We read all these preview publications and whatnot, and it's hope springs eternal.

Dan Rubenstein 48:53 Yeah, yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 48:56 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:57 New vibes, new philosophy, new scheme, new players, new everything.

Dan Rubenstein 49:00 Sure.

Dan Rubenstein 49:01 Definitely.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:03 Yes, but also you're not going to be able to fix that overnight.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:06 They're 136.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:08 So, TL;DR, Micah Alejado is still going to be able to throw the football.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:13 If we see a jump from Stanford, I think it's on offense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:16 I think they can definitely run on Hawaii.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:20 Their starting quarterback is Davis Warren.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:22 I am not expecting Davis Warren to go out there and throw it for 350 yards.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:25 I think it's going to be a lot of handing off to Micah Ford.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:28 I could see this being a really good game, just like it was a year ago.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:32 A question to me of how much defense we see really on both sides of this.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:35 So I'm taking Hawaii.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:38 I think they win outright.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:39 I've got them something like 27-24.

Dan Rubenstein 49:41 Wow.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:41 This should be a good game, though.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:43 Like, there's a reason that point spread's going down because everyone else is seeing it too.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:47 This would be a fun game to watch at 7 p.m.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:49 on ACC Network.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:51 Which side of this one are you on?

Dan Rubenstein 49:52 I think I'm on Hawaii as well.

Dan Rubenstein 49:54 I'm not positive that they actually win this game, but there has to be so much trust in the unknown with Stanford, even though it is at home and Hawaii is

Dan Rubenstein 50:04 Even though it's close in terms of, like, it's very close to the state of California compared to other states, it's still a haul.

Dan Rubenstein 50:12 You just have to have belief in so much with the Stanford team right away that like the combination of Tavita Pritchard and Davis Warren is going to work out immediately against

Dan Rubenstein 50:21 Hawaii is a quality team.

Dan Rubenstein 50:22 They're not excellent, but they're quality.

Dan Rubenstein 50:23 Timmy Chang, I think, just got an extension, right?

Dan Rubenstein 50:25 He got more years tacked on.

Dan Rubenstein 50:27 Vibes are really strong in Honolulu.

Dan Rubenstein 50:32 I don't trust Stanford in this moment.

Dan Rubenstein 50:34 Here's the other thing, too, that bothers me about liking Stanford, at least this week.

Dan Rubenstein 50:38 I can understand why Stanford would improve as a program over time.

Dan Rubenstein 50:43 Think about what Stanford fans have been through.

Dan Rubenstein 50:46 Yes, there are Stanford fans.

Dan Rubenstein 50:48 But you're talking about having like four coaches in five years, kind of?

Dan Rubenstein 50:52 Like the Troy Taylor, David Shaw, Frank Reich, and now Tavita Pritchard, like it's a lot to go through.

Dan Rubenstein 50:58 And so while I think

Dan Rubenstein 51:00 There's a good feeling about Tavita Pritchard because he was a quarterback for the school, that he's had success as a coach.

Dan Rubenstein 51:06 He was, what, with the Commanders recently?

Ty Hildenbrandt 51:07 Yeah, with Jayden Daniels. I mean, he’s done a good job.

Dan Rubenstein 51:09 Right.

Dan Rubenstein 51:11 That there is a certain like there is a certain amount of time that's gonna need to transpire before like

Dan Rubenstein 51:20 Everybody is so excited about Stanford football again.

Dan Rubenstein 51:22 Even though, yeah, Andrew Luck is running the show.

Dan Rubenstein 51:25 They've been hurt these past few years.

Dan Rubenstein 51:27 They've been terrible.

Dan Rubenstein 51:29 Like, you need to convince people to show up.

Dan Rubenstein 51:32 So, they're not going to have like a raucous environment.

Dan Rubenstein 51:34 I mean, they very rarely do, but like, even still, like, you got to prove it.

Dan Rubenstein 51:39 And so, I think there's just more to trust about Hawaii in this moment.

Ty Hildenbrandt 51:44 All right, one final game then, 10 p.m.

Ty Hildenbrandt 51:47 on Fox.

Ty Hildenbrandt 51:48 You get a full day worth of bangers, Dan.

Ty Hildenbrandt 51:54 This is one of them.

Ty Hildenbrandt 51:55 I'm really excited about this game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 51:58 This is a low-key, very big game in Week 0.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:02 10 p.m. on Fox.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:04 Memphis on the road at UNLV.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:07 This is another game where the point spread's gone down.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:09 When I made the doc, five and a half in favor of UNLV at home. At time of recording, I think four and a half.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:15 It's come down a little bit.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:17 This is a pretty big game, okay?

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:19 I think these are two teams that could be, I emphasize could be, part of that G6 playoff conversation, depending on the ways

Dan Rubenstein 52:28 Wow.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:28 This whole thing works.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:29 Well, you said it too.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:31 UNLV, you could squint and see it with Memphis.

Dan Rubenstein 52:32 I said about UNLV, I didn't say it about Memphis.

Dan Rubenstein 52:37 Okay.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:38 We've got a brand new situation at Memphis, 50 new players.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:41 Charles Huff is the new coach.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:42 This is after Ryan Silverfield left and took a bunch with him to Arkansas.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:46 We've also got year two now at UNLV for Dan Mullen.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:51 They went 10 and 4 in year one, made it to the conference championship game, averaged 34 points a game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:58 Dan Mullen teams tend to score.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:00 Dan Mullen teams tend to run.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:01 I think they're going to probably do that again.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:03 New quarterback this year. Anthony Colandrea transferred away from UNLV.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:07 He's going to be the starting quarterback at Nebraska.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:10 They bring in Jackson Arnold.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:11 Remember Jackson Arnold?

Dan Rubenstein 53:12 Of course, how could I forget?

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:13 Jackson Arnold.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:14 Jackson Arnold might be the best damn running back on the team.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:17 Can he throw?

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:18 We'll get to that.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:20 So

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:21 I think this game is supremely interesting.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:23 I hate that it’s at 10 p.m.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:25 for those of us old-timers here on the East Coast, but my hunch is that after a day of football, we’ll probably have some adrenaline flowing through us.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:33 So

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:34 Where are we at here, Dan?

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:35 How do we feel?

Dan Rubenstein 53:37 I guess UNLV.

Dan Rubenstein 53:38 I mean, Memphis is completely new.

Dan Rubenstein 53:41 They haven't even named a starter yet, right, at quarterback.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:44 Right.

Dan Rubenstein 53:44 I don't believe.

Dan Rubenstein 53:45 As of time of recording, they have not. That news has not come out, whether it's, like, Air Noland or Marcus Stokes.

Dan Rubenstein 53:52 Yeah, I think UNLV, inasmuch as they are suspect on defense,

Dan Rubenstein 53:58 I think there's more to know, more to like.

Dan Rubenstein 54:01 I'm curious about the Jackson Arnold thing because Dan Mullen just gets results out of quarterbacks.

Dan Rubenstein 54:08 And it's what?

Dan Rubenstein 54:08 It’s both Jackson Arnold and Alex Orji who are going to play.

Dan Rubenstein 54:12 So I think there's just much more known about UNLV.

Dan Rubenstein 54:16 It's at home.

Dan Rubenstein 54:17 I think it's going to take a little bit for Memphis to get its sea legs under it.

Dan Rubenstein 54:21 So what's the number again?

Ty Hildenbrandt 54:23 The number is four and a half in favor of UNLV.

Dan Rubenstein 54:27 It's a weirdly low line.

Dan Rubenstein 54:29 I thought it might even be higher, but if there's not like a ton of confidence in the UNLV defense immediately being solved and fixed from last season

Dan Rubenstein 54:38 I'm still going to take UNLV here.

Dan Rubenstein 54:40 I think they win this game 37-27.

Ty Hildenbrandt 54:44 We know what we're getting from UNLV, and that's what I kept coming back to.

Dan Rubenstein 54:46 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 54:48 We don't know what we're getting yet from Memphis.

Ty Hildenbrandt 54:51 I like their new offensive coordinator, Kevin Decker, who came over from Old Dominion.

Ty Hildenbrandt 54:56 If you are a Memphis fan, you're used to seeing a spread offense that

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:01 incorporates some no-huddle. Get used to seeing much wider formations and playing at a much quicker pace because that’s Kevin Decker.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:10 That's what they're going to do.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:12 I think this game is going to feature a lot of points.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:14 The over-under right now is 56.5.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:16 That's not the highest in Week 0, but I would say among the games that I'm interested in, that's the highest.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:23 56.5 is a lot.

Dan Rubenstein 55:24 Should be great.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:25 I'm on UNLV here.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:27 I was really close to picking them to make the playoff over New Mexico, but I just like UNM more.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:34 I like New Mexico's schedule.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:36 I like their quarterback situation.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:39 I like their defense.

Dan Rubenstein 55:39 If he's playing, yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:40 Yeah, if Jack Layne is healthy, I tend to like that a little bit more.

Dan Rubenstein 55:41 If Jack Layne's healthy, yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:46 I'm not sure about Jackson Arnold.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:49 I don't know if he's going to pop, but I think he can run.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:51 And I think in a game like this, certainly in a system like this, Jackson Arnold's in a good position to succeed.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:57 I also think in this one, they're going to run a lot with Jai'Den Thomas.

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:01 And they're going to be able to control the football a little bit more than Memphis, assuming they don't give up a ton of big plays, and that is a big assumption given what we saw a year ago. I have them winning in a fun game with a lot of points, 38-30.

Dan Rubenstein 56:18 So there is hope that Jackson Arnold, on some level, is the new Anthony Colandrea or Matthew Sluka or Hajj-Malik Williams.

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:30 I liked him.

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:31 He was good.

Dan Rubenstein 56:32 It was fun.

Dan Rubenstein 56:33 It was really good.

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:34 I don't know, man.

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:35 I hope it works for Jackson Arnold.

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:36 I've been rooting for Jackson Arnold ever since he came out of high school.

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:39 And it just—it seems like it's been

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:42 one thing after another. You can clearly see the potential, you can clearly see the flashes, but we just haven’t seen the consistency.

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:50 So if he's going to succeed anywhere, given his skill set and what we know he can do as a runner, it would be at a place like UNLV.

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:59 I'm taking NFL stuff and

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:00 throwing that out the window.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:01 But just as a college quarterback that could be productive and successful and help a team to get to some meaningful games, Jackson Arnold's probably in the right spot for that.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:12 I think this will be a fun game.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:13 And I think this will be a nice early test for both these schools.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:16 We kind of don't know what we're getting with Memphis, right?

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:19 We have proof of concept with Charles Huff doing it elsewhere and some of the names that he's assembled.

Dan Rubenstein 57:19 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:24 But

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:26 I think we trust to some extent that he'll be able to do that again.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:28 I just don't know if he's going to be able to do it on the road Week 0 at a place like UNLV that should be able to put up some points.

Dan Rubenstein 57:36 Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 57:37 Okay, that all makes sense.

Dan Rubenstein 57:38 We agree.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:40 Eight games.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:42 Eight games coming at us here in Week 0.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:44 As we said at the very top of the episode.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:48 Go on out to Verballers.com if you want to support what Dan and I do.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:52 We are an independent operation over here.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:55 Your support truly goes a long way.

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:57 We're going to have people chatting it up

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:00 all day long in the Discord server talking through these eight games in Week 0, as I said, as sort of an appetizer

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:09 to get us started and get things moving for Week 1. We’ve had a bunch of new people sign up.

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:14 If you want to be part of the community, if you want to support what we do, if you want to play in our games

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:20 via our brand-new Verballer portal,

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:22 We've been doing a lot of work here in the offseason trying to cater to the community, and we'd love to have you with us throughout the course of this 2026 season.

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:30 So check it out, if nothing more: Verballers.com,

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:32 V-E-R-B-A-L-L-E-R-S dot com.

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:35 You also get the ad-free episodes, the bonus content, the works.

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:40 Everything we have to offer, everything more that we have to offer, we put out there at Verballers.com.

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:44 If that's not for you, please rate, review, and subscribe.

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:47 That helps too.

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:48 Okay, so even if you're not in the market to do the subscription thing with the Patreon, that's cool.

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:54 Rate, review, subscribe.

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:56 It goes a long way as well towards helping us out.

Dan Rubenstein 58:58 And if that's not for you, Ty's always open to receiving a foot massage.

Dan Rubenstein 59:05 Not like a dainty one.

Dan Rubenstein 59:06 Like he likes it when you really go for it.

Ty Hildenbrandt 59:08 I mean...

Dan Rubenstein 59:09 So, I don't know.

Dan Rubenstein 59:10 Get a hold of Ty and figure out a time you guys can meet up.

Ty Hildenbrandt 59:11 That's not entirely true.

Dan Rubenstein 59:13 You like a foot massage?

Ty Hildenbrandt 59:15 I don't like when you really go for it like that.

Dan Rubenstein 59:17 Oh, really?

Ty Hildenbrandt 59:17 I have very sensitive feet, yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 59:20 You have sensitive feet.

Ty Hildenbrandt 59:21 I do.

Ty Hildenbrandt 59:22 They're very sensitive.

Dan Rubenstein 59:22 Have you used a foot massager before?

Ty Hildenbrandt 59:24 I have and it caused my feet to swell up.

Dan Rubenstein 59:26 Oh man, Ty, you've fallen apart.

Ty Hildenbrandt 59:27 It was too hard.

Ty Hildenbrandt 59:28 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 59:29 I'm in my elder—yeah, my elder years here. This is what we got to deal with.

Dan Rubenstein 59:34 Before we started the show, Ty said, the only thing that I require, we got to end this show with feet.

Dan Rubenstein 59:41 And this is what we did.

Ty Hildenbrandt 59:43 We did end it with feet.

Dan Rubenstein 59:44 I came through on my promise.

Ty Hildenbrandt 59:45 All right, so what's your watch situation this weekend?

Dan Rubenstein 59:49 Couch TV, maybe, for some of these games on a little bit of a delay because kids' sports are starting up and

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:01 I'm just trying to institute a strong culture in this household.

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:05 And so I love showing up and watching my kids participate and dominate whatever they're going to do.

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:11 So that's what's happening this weekend.

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:13 When there are larger games in those, like, 11 a.m. local, noon, 2:30,

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:21 I will be watching some of those or basically all of those live.

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:26 You know, sometimes it's on a phone, on a soccer sideline, or a flag football sideline.

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:30 But yeah, this weekend, a little bit of delay for sports.

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:34 Sun is still out, but I'll be watching all of them, you know, by myself on a couch, eating something probably boring for Week 0.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:42 I am fired up, baby.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:45 I'm ready to go down here in the lab.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:48 I'm going to be watching all day long.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:50 I got the day to myself.

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:50 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:52 Solid Wife Kate's not going to be here.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:53 It's just going to be me and the

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:53 Where's the missus off to?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:55 Me and the pups just gonna be watching football all day.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:58 It'll be fun.

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:59 Okay.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:00 Is she like going parasailing or something?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:02 I hope so.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:02 Is she doing something fun with her time?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:03 I hope so.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:03 All right.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:04 Get away from me on game day, man.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:06 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:06 And I say that lovingly.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:07 I'm probably not fun to be around.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:10 Okay.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:11 Oh man, but you get Brian Kelly.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:13 Which, by the way, you know what?

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:16 We're quick to rag, and that's okay.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:18 You know, there's a time for ragging.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:20 I'm telling you right now, he's going to be very good at that job.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:22 He loves talking.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:23 He will be very—he's always been very good at talking.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:26 The problem has always been

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:29 Does he mean what he's saying?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:31 What's that level of authenticity like?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:33 That's the problem with Brian Kelly.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:35 But as an announcer doing, like, these transactional-

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:39 type things as he’s getting from first to second down and explaining things,

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:42 he's going to be very good at that job.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:43 Right.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:44 He will be.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:45 Here's where I'm going to credit him.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:47 So Brian Kelly is an A-list coach at Notre Dame.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:51 takes another A-list coaching job at LSU.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:54 It obviously goes wrong, like it does for basically everybody.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:58 Basically everybody ends up getting fired.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:00 You have your guys who become like heroes in that town and become legends there, whatever.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:05 But Brian Kelly, it works out terribly for him at LSU.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:10 But that's what happens.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:12 There's ESPN, there's network TV, you know, CBS and NBC and Fox Sports.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:19 There are all these like huge places that employ big names.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:22 Brian Kelly's a big name.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:25 Brian Kelly's first week as a media person is in Fargo, North Dakota.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:31 This is nothing that I am slinging at Fargo.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:35 Fargo was a great time.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:37 The campus is great.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:38 The games are great.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:39 The towns seemed really fun in our limited time there.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:42 But like, he is off the beaten college football path.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:46 He is paying dues, and he is doing it on a small cable network, CBS Sports Network.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:53 Seems good.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:53 Seems fine.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:54 We've got a lot of friends who've done stuff for CBS Sports Network.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:59 But.

Dan Rubenstein 01:03:01 This is going to be a little different of a season for BK.

Dan Rubenstein 01:03:04 Before this, it’s Cincinnati, big place.

Dan Rubenstein 01:03:06 I enjoy that, like, all right, he's paying his dues for the new gig.

Dan Rubenstein 01:03:10 I like that.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:11 Let me get you out of here on this, Dan.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:15 ESPN is apparently getting rid of their bottom line during college football games.

Dan Rubenstein 01:03:20 Whoa, really?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:22 This breaking from our friends over at Front Office Sports.

Dan Rubenstein 01:03:26 I saw a new score bug, at least for the NFL.

Dan Rubenstein 01:03:28 I didn't know if it was going to be for college football as well, getting rid of their god-awful score belt.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:33 ESPN will not feature the ticker for regular-season games that air on ABC, ACC Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, and the SEC Network.

Dan Rubenstein 01:03:45 Whoa, huge.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:47 There will still be score alerts during games at specific times during each quarter.

Dan Rubenstein 01:03:50 That's fine.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:53 There will also be updates in places like above the score bug or in the top right of the screen to help viewers navigate various schedule changes that occur.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:01 Is that score alert going to be yellow to make it seem like there's a holding call or something?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:06 I hope not.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:07 If we're really doing the reset here, guys, don't make those alerts yellow because everyone thinks it's like pass interference.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:10 Oh, my God.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:16 Please don't do that.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:18 There is something great about at least the possibility that ESPN hired a designer.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:25 The possibility that ESPN hired a real designer—

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:27 channeled some of the McAfee money away and gave it to—yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:30 Well, look, look, you watch, you do, you watch the Masters.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:34 And I know the Masters controls, right?

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:36 It's their television broadcast that ESPN airs.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:40 And it's beautiful.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:42 Every graphic is so—it's, like, tasteful and minimal, and it just lets the scene of sports tell the story.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:49 The key is always tasteful.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:50 The key is always tasteful.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:52 And so you watch other sporting events, you watch the World Cup, and there's just like a tiny little score.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:57 Everybody's got, like, it seems everybody's got big TVs, or they have a phone, and the phones are gigantic now, or the iPads, or whatever.

Dan Rubenstein 01:05:04 And

Dan Rubenstein 01:05:05 if you could just put up a clean frame of sports without the god-awful score belt and a bunch of yellow blinking lines—

Dan Rubenstein 01:05:15 Oh, my God.

Dan Rubenstein 01:05:16 ESPN, it's only taking you, let's see, they launched in like the late 70s.

Dan Rubenstein 01:05:20 It's only taken them this long, but look, progress is progress.

Dan Rubenstein 01:05:23 Good for the worldwide leader to figure out, you know, let's have a nice, simple, engaging design.

Dan Rubenstein 01:05:30 It's great.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:31 Well, we made it.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:36 It has been a long, cold offseason.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:38 Before you know it, football will be here.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:41 Verballers.com, again, is where you can go if you want to support the team.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:45 If nothing more, rate, review, and subscribe.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:49 We will be back in short order.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:51 We will not have the recap stream on Saturday night.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:55 But there will be a show up on Sunday, and then we're going to launch into Week 1 this time next week.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:03 Let's get it.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:04 Let's do it.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:05 For that guy over there, my good friend Dan Rubenstein, for myself over here, Ty Hildenbrandt.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:09 Enjoy your first Saturday of games.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:12 We'll catch you on the flip side.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:14 Stay solid.

Dan Rubenstein 01:06:15 Peace.